Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/15/2026 - Meeting Minutes SALT LAKE CITY ARTI N Salt Lake City Arts Council Board Meeting Minutes April 15th, 2026 5:30—7:00 P.M. 54 Finch Lane—SLC, Utah 84102 ATTENDANCE: Board Members in Attendance: • Matthew Coles • Cuauhtemoc"C-moc" Sandoval • Eugenie Hero Jaffe • Kathy Davis • Anthony Wright • Ryan Canter • Lana Taylor • Denise Begue • Nick Pedersen Board Members in Attendance Online: • Sabrina Martinez • Hannah Nielsen • Ignacio Rosenberg • Gabriella Huggins Board Members Excused: • Travis English • Pablo Cruz-Ayala • Caitlin Tursic Board Members Not In Attendance, Unexcused: N/A Council/City Staff/Public in Attendance: • Felicia Baca,Arts Council Executive Director • Laurel Cannon Alder,Arts Council Deputy Director • Lindsey Day,Art Council Office Facilitator • Dawn Borchardt,Performing Arts Program Manager • Sylvia Richards, Public Policy Analyst(online) • Nic Smith,CEO, S&S Presents • Lance Saunders, Co-Owner, S&S Presents • Will Sartain, Co-Owner, S&S Presents MISSION: To promote,present and support artists and arts organizations in order to facilitate the development of the arts and expand awareness, access, and engagement. SALT LAKE CITY ARTI MINUTES Call to Order and Welcome Guests • Mr. Coles called the meeting to order and welcomed the team and guests. ii. Mission Moment(Future events&SLC worthy recognition) o The board discussed the latest arts&culture events they have attended around the city and look forward to attending in the future. Some events mentioned included Kingsbury school of dance, RDT Gala, Utah Presents Jazz series, Urine Town, and the Gina Bachauer piano performance. II.Approve Board Meeting Minutes WA Board meeting minutes from the February meeting will be approved at the May meeting. III. Management \ General Program Management and Legislative Session Update • Ms. Baca provided updates about recent and upcoming Council activity. • Ms. Baca noted that we saw over 2oK attendees to"A symphony of disappearing sounds for the Great Salt Lake."The event saw a diverse, multi-generational crowd.There was a large Latino population in attendance as the event went viral on Spanish-language TikTok.We have seen great local press coverage and have coverage in the Art Newspaper, Southwest Contemporary, NYTimes, and Forbes.The team is working on creating a wrap-up for the Bloomberg team and sending out thank yous to all the great partners. • Ms. Baca noted that the team is working towards the Friday Gallery Stroll opening, noted the upcoming Grants deadline, and the County Grant application. • Ms. Baca noted that the team is creating materials for the Smithsonian partnership for Living Traditions, and the board will receive a link to sign up for volunteer shifts. It was noted that the Chair of the NEA will be visiting the festival,which is an exciting opportunity. Ms. Baca called out Ms. Martinez for helping to create a fundraising connection. • Ms. Baca noted lots of great progress related to public arts.This included completing the Mayor's Bike to Work along the new aqueduct art installation and working on Cosmo the Dinosaur acquisition logistics. It was noted that finalists for the Fairmount and 9 Line Trial commissions. She noted that the finalists were in town for the Fleet Bloc commission. She noted that the council is bringing on a consultant to manage the mini-grants for each of the City Council Districts. • Ms. Baca noted that the Utah division of arts and museums saw a $1.7M decrease in budget. Currently,we are assuming that means a 35% cut in funding for the council or$46K. It was noted that the reduction in the budget was moved towards art acquisitions, and the arts council is engaged in that process,which is a silver lining. • Ms. Baca noted that the FY27 Federal budget proposes an almost complete elimination,but the agency has historically had bipartisan support, so she encouraged the board to contact their representatives. MISSION: To promote,present and support artists and arts organizations in order to facilitate the development of the arts and expand awareness, access, and engagement. SALT LAKE CITY ARTI Program/Administrative Updates: S&S Presents on Twilight Concert Series • The team at S&S Presents provided an overview of their company's history.They are an events promotions/event production company with 20 full-time and 50+part-time employees that was founded in 2007.They manage over i000 events in the city,with a third of those being local artists.They focus on partnering with local charities like SpyHop. HEAL Utah and Equality Utah. • Twilight's focus is to deliver affordable,diverse acts that uses the company's history and reputation to negotiate.The series also helps grow local bands as they serve as openers. • It was discussed that initial sales for the series are slower than in past years,likely because there were a few announcements from other series on the same day. • Ms. Cannon Alder noted there is a Spotify playlist with all the acts for this year's series that will be shared with the board. • It was noted that the larger concerts will be held at the Civic Center,which is the new branding for the City County Building and Library area. • It was noted that acts are selected with committee input, along with opportunities as they arise. • It was noted that the relationship with the Gallivan Center has also improved since it was last discussed. IV. Budget/Financial Review of Financials • Ms.Tursic provided a recording of her overview of the current financials. However,there were technical difficulties playing the video.The video will be sent to the board following the meeting, but Ms. Baca assured the board that there were no issues to note and that financials are looking strong. Budget Amendment • Ms. Baca noted that the reason for the budget amendment is to account for the higher-than- projected revenue from Living Traditions.This allows the council to use the fund balance to balance the budget and update areas based on actuals for the fiscal year-to-date. • Ms. Baca and the board reviewed the detailed Excel document that noted where budget line items were increased or decreased. It was noted that only changes of greater than $1,500 were annotated. • Ms. Hero Jaffe moved to approve the budget amendment. Ms. Davis seconded.The motion passed unanimously. • Ms. Baca noted that the plan is to present the FY 27 budget at the May board meeting with the goal of adopting it in June. However,that is influenced by the City Budget process in which we currently anticipate the Mayor proposing her budget on May 5th. She reminded the board that last year,the council provided a separate budget presentation to the council outside of the department presentation.This is in the context of the ongoing conversations and educational efforts with the council to ensure everyone is on the same page about expectations for the council's programming.There are ongoing conversations about murals,the cost of projects, and collaboration with the CRA and other City departments. MISSION: To promote,present and support artists and arts organizations in order to facilitate the development of the arts and expand awareness, access, and engagement. SALT LAKE CITY ARTI V. Board Goodbye to Kathy Davis • The board thanked Ms. Davis for her years of support and dedication. Ms. Davis thanked the staff for all of their great work. New Committee Engagement • Ms. Cannon Alder provided an overview of the updated language to the committee engagement overview that came out of the updated bylaws and the strategic planning committee's recommendations. VI. Public Comment None VII. Other Business • None. Mr. Pedersen motioned to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Nielsen seconded.The meeting was adjourned. MISSION: To promote,present and support artists and arts organizations in order to facilitate the development of the arts and expand awareness, access, and engagement.